1. Field of the Invention
Development of X-ray films in hospitals and clinics is becoming substantially fully automated and the length of time the systems can operate continuously depend to a great extent on the degree of contamination of the hypo bath with silver. And, the great number of X-ray pictures taken and their large sizes means there is substantial silver contamination of the hypo bath very quickly unless some means is taken to alleviate this situation.
It is with this as a background that the present inventors have developed their silver removing device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Silver removal or silver recovery devices and processes of many types have been tried and a number of them are in use. Agitation of the silver laden solutions have, as a rule, been accomplished by mechanical impellers or impeller like devices such as those shown in the following identified prior patents to:
Hickman et al U.S. Pat. No. 1,954,316 APPARATUS FOR ELECTROPLATING SILVER FROM USED PHOTOGRAPHIC FIXING SOLUTIONS BY ELECTROLYSIS PA1 Hickman et al U.S. Pat. No. 1,959,531 APPARATUS FOR ELECTROPLATING SILVER FROM USED PHOTOGRAPHIC FIXING SOLUTIONS PA1 James et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,438 DEVICE FOR RECLAIMING SILVER FROM PHOTOGRAPHIC HYPO BATHS PA1 Wadsworth U.S. Pat. No. 3,196,095 METHOD OF REMOVING SOLIDS IN SOLUTION FROM A LIQUID PA1 Adams U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,718 APPARATUS FOR THE RECOVERY OF SILVER FROM USED PHOTOGRAPHIC FIXING SOLUTIONS BY ELECTROLYSIS PA1 Snow et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,926 ELECTROLYTIC PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR RECOVERING METALS PA1 Cooley U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,317 ELECTROLYTIC APPARATUS FOR RECOVERING A METAL FROM A SOLUTION PA1 Fisher U.S. Pat. No. 3,560,366 AG-O-MAT SILVER RECOVERY UNIT PA1 Luck, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,341 METAL RECOVERY DEVICE PA1 Engleman U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,805 SILVER RECOVERY SYSTEM PA1 Snook et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,318 AUTOMATIC CONTROL APPARATUS FOR SILVER RECOVERY
All of the above patents are concerned with the mechanical agitating of the hypo solution to attempt to further facilitate the electrolytic action and the depositing of metallic silver on the cathode.
The following prior patents are concerned with silver recovery from solutions but are primarily concerned with the sensing of the amount of silver deposited on the cathode to thereupon in turn control the amount of electrical current imposed on the system for gaining the most favorable rate of silver deposition.
In the present device applicants have no moving parts but rather accomplish their efficient electrolysis by an agitation of the solution by a series of strategically placed nozzles or jet tubes through which the silver contaminated hypo solution is pumped, thereby passing over a cylindrically shaped cathode in a uniform manner and with the aid of a flexible characteristic of at least the deposition surface of the cathode the deposited silver is easily stripped therefrom.